An Internet Explorer Automatic Component Activation (IE ACA) update is available to disable the "Click to activate" behavior

Introduction

Microsoft is releasing an Internet Explorer Automatic Component Activation (IE ACA) update that will disable the “Click to activate” behavior of the Internet Explorer ActiveX update that was originally released in April 2006 in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 912812. This IE ACA Preview update affects the following products:

More information

When you deploy the IE ACA update, it disables the "Click to activate" behavior of the Internet Explorer ActiveX update that is contained in update KB942615. The other security updates that are contained in update KB942615 are still present and are still functional.

We strongly recommend that you deploy this IE ACA update only to computers for testing before the "Click to activate" behavior is permanently removed in the Internet Explorer cumulative update that is planned for April 2008. Removing the "Click to activate" behavior from Internet Explorer will require no changes to existing Web pages. Additionally, the removal of this behavior will not require new actions for developers to create new pages. All pages that previously required the "Click to activate" behaviorwill no longer require that the user manually enables an ActiveX control. ActiveX controls will continue to function as they did before this change was made to the "Click to activate" behavior.

Notice

Users must deploy the IE ACA update on computers on which Internet Explorer security update MS07-069 is applied. This makes sure that the computers are up to date with functionality that is required and with security fixes. Applying the IE ACA Preview without MS07-069 will not guarantee that Internet Explorer functions correctly.

Although no compatibility risks are expected with the removal of the "Click to activate" behavior, we encourage our partners to test and to report any application compatibility issues that are found to Microsoft Support. Applications are expected to function correctly after the removal of the "Click to activate "behavior.

Web browser hosts

The following hard-coded applications will no longer be opt-in applications to the "Click to activate" behavior:

Windows Explorer

Internet Explorer

MSN Explorer

AOL Explorer

AOL 8.0

AOL 9.0

CompuServe 2000

AIM

NetCaptor

Browse3D

Macromedia Dreamweaver

Macromedia Contribute

Netscape 8 when it uses Internet Explorer as the rendering engine

After you apply the IE ACA update, the following registry subkey that enables the "Click to activate" behavior will no longer be used:

Applications that host the Web Object Control (WebOC) or MSHTML can continue to enable the "Click to activate" behavior by using the DOCHOSTUI flag to enable interactive control blocking. To do this, add the DOCHOSTUIFLAG_ENABLE_ACTIVEX_INACTIVATE_MODE flag to the dwFlags parameter of your DOCHOSTUIINFO structure, as shown in the following example.

Deployment

We recommend that you apply this update to computers only to test the functionality of your applications and of Web sites.

Users must deploy the IE ACA update on computers on which Internet Explorer security update MS07-069 is applied. This makes sure that the computers are up to date with functionality that is required and with security fixes.

Restart requirement

Installation of this IE ACA update may require a restart if the Mshtml.dll file is being used during installation.

Download information

Update information

The following files are available for download from the MicrosoftDownload Center:

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Technical support for x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows

If your hardware came with a Microsoft Windows x64 edition already installed, your hardware manufacturer provides technical support and assistance for the Windows x64 edition. In this case, your hardware manufacturer provides support because a Windows x64 edition was included with your hardware. Your hardware manufacturer might have customized the Windows x64 edition installation by using unique components. Unique components might include specific device drivers or might include optional settings to maximize the performance of the hardware. Microsoft will provide reasonable-effort assistance if you must have technical help with a Windows x64 edition. However, you might have to contact your manufacturer directly. Your manufacturer is best qualified to support the software that your manufacturer installed on the hardware. If you purchased a Windows x64 edition such as a Windows Server 2003 x64 edition separately, contact Microsoft for technical support.

For product information about Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.